SOLDIER Not Down
by P.T. Tucker
Summary: One of them is always a problem when he gets injured. Hint: his name starts with "Z" and ends with "hassle." (ASGZC, very brief mention of BDSM)


Genesis was never a problem. People _assumed_ Genesis was a problem, but Genesis never was. Genesis, for all his primadonna tendencies, was actually quite mellow during bed rest. He wasn't _happy_ about it, and Gaia forbid if Seph managed to make one of his unintentionally insensitive remarks while Genesis was injured and he was not, but for the most part he was content to lay around and read _LOVELESS_ to a worried Cloud while Angeal, admittedly, fussed over him.

No, Genesis was never a problem. Sephiroth even less so: the man understood the logic behind allowing his body to recover from its ordeal, and he readily allowed Cloud to snuggle him while Angeal fussed over him too. And even if Cloud _hadn_ _'t_ been wonderfully compliant to their demands when he needed to take it easy, it would have been simple enough to make him. All they would have had to do was pull him tight against their chests and wrap their arms around him and he would have been trapped, forced to doze with them in bed until he felt better.

Zack…Zack was a problem.

Zack's unending energy gave the mako reactors a run for their money. Great for fighting monsters. Great for cleaning up disaster areas. Great for taking out enemy combatants. _Really_ great for sex. Not great for medically recommended relaxation.

"Sephiroth, set up the restraints. We're tying him to the headboard."

"Can't he just break the headboard?" Cloud asked.

"Not if he doesn't want me to light him on fire." Genesis' voice had that sickeningly sweet undertone that said he was five minutes away from snapping and anyone who didn't want to be here when he summoned Ifrit into the middle of ShinRa Headquarters should probably make a strategic retreat.

"That would defeat the point of the restraints," Sephiroth pointed out, sounding rather dubious about Gen's planning capabilities.

Angeal sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He should have become a landscaper. All of those wonderful plants. None of _this_.

He opened the door of their 'library,' which was really just shelves full of Genesis' literature with a handful of pickings from the rest of them shoved in where they could find room. Genesis was standing in the middle of the living room with a knocked-out Zack slung over his shoulder and a concerned Cloud looking on. The bedroom door was open, so Sephiroth must have gone to get the bondage gear. Not exactly how Angeal had imagined using it.

Angeal came over and lifted Zack's chin. He didn't so much as twitch. Completely out of it.

"Sleep spell?"

Genesis bristled. An odd reaction. "It was necessary."

"You hit him while his back was turned," Cloud said, scowling at him.

And that would explain the defensiveness. Genesis had long since learned how to ignore Angeal's 'lectures,' and any accusations from Sephiroth had a fifty percent chance in ending with one of them (Genesis) on their ass after a bloody spar.

But Cloud…

Genesis crossed his arms. "He shouldn't have escaped if he didn't want to be hunted down." _Like a dog_ was left unsaid but Angeal heard it all the same.

"Gen," he chided. He held his arms out, and Genesis reluctantly handed Zack over. Angeal didn't miss how his fingers gently brushed the hair out of Zack's eyes.

"Done," Sephiroth said, coming out of the bedroom. "Though I'm not sure they're necessary with the level of power behind Genesis' spells."

Genesis looked pleased for all of five seconds before he caught sight of Cloud's scowl deepening. "I didn't make the casting that strong."

As one, the rest of them turned to look at Zack, who looked for all the world as if he were _dead_ , he was so still in Angeal's arms. Only the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest told them that Genesis hadn't killed him in his efforts to make sure Zack didn't kill himself.

"He needs the rest," Genesis tried instead, when it became obvious he wasn't getting anywhere with his lie.

Cloud did falter at that, his scowl morphing into something closer to his usual concerned frown.

"The healer did say he should stay in bed," Sephiroth said, coming to Genesis' aid.

Cloud frowned a little more. "Do you think he hurt himself running around?"

"If by 'running around' you mean that pathetic one-legged hopping he was doing on his way to Gaia knows where - probably a mission, knowing that damn energetic nightmare - then no, I don't think he hurt himself."

Even Cloud's lips twitched a little at Genesis' rant. Angeal shook his head. That was their puppy. Too restless by half. And that was their Gen. Annoyed because he cared.

"Let's get him to bed," Angeal said.

He carried Zack back into his 'comfort prison,' as he'd taken to calling it, and laid him down in the middle so whoever wanted to cuddle would have room. And so Genesis could strap him into the reinforced leather strips hanging down from the headboard. Or, at least, threaten to strap him into them. Gen's bark was often worse than his bite when it came to the four of them.

Cloud was the first to crawl in beside Zack, but that was only because he didn't have as much clothing to remove. Gen handed his coat and gloves off to Sephiroth, who took them much like a valet might take a set of keys, though Angeal doubted the valet would have such an amused lilt to his mouth. He removed his boots and allowed his stomach guard to fall to the floor and then he was beside Zack on the bed, on the opposite side of Cloud.

"I'll leave you to it," Angeal said when Genesis began to recite _LOVELESS_ into a dozing Zack's ear.

Sephiroth followed him out, hanging Genesis' coat up on the rack by the door. "How long do you think until his next escape attempt?"

"With Gen as his jailer?"

They shared a grin.

Of course, Genesis wasn't just good at threatening to disembowel poor Seconds if they dared to disturb his beauty sleep with their 'ridiculous antics.' He was also really good at giving blowjobs and that seemed to keep Zack in place just as well.

 **AN: Let me know what you thought! :3 All reviews are loved and constructive criticism is more than fine.**

 **Also, feel free to follow me on AO3 if you also want to see my explicit fics (username pt_tucker).**


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